Crooked Pint Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Crooked Pint franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Crooked Pint discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it C.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Sales data for 14 franchised restaurants (2022-2024). Average monthly sales $169,508 (2024). Food costs 32.81%, beverage 25.57%, labor 36.11%. Limited expense categories; excludes royalties, rent, debt service.
What a Crooked Pint franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $20,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 4% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 6% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $152,000 – $580,000 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
4% royalty + 0.5% local advertising + 1.5% advertising on GMOTG products. Training fees variable ($1,000-$750 per employee).
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Crooked Pint system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 14 |
| Ceased operations | 1 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 1 |
| Transferred to new owners | 2 |
| Closure rate | 7.1% of outlets |
1 ceased operations (2023); 1 termination (2023); declining sales trend 2022-2024
From Item 20 of the FDD 2025. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Crooked Pint worth it? — how it compares to 436 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 6% of sales | lower than most (median 8%) |
| Startup cost | from $152,000 | about average (median $138,750) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade C | typical for the category |
| Closure rate | 7.1% of outlets | worse than 82% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every other franchises franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Crooked Pint
The franchisor's framing: Sales data for 14 franchised restaurants (2022-2024). Average monthly sales $169,508 (2024… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Crooked Pint franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Crooked Pint franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $152,000–$580,000, including a $20,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Crooked Pint franchise owners make?
- Sales data for 14 franchised restaurants (2022-2024). Average monthly sales $169,508 (2024). Food costs 32.81%, beverage 25.57%, labor 36.11%. Limited expense categories; excludes royalties, rent, debt service. We grade this disclosure C for honesty.
- What are the Crooked Pint franchise fees?
- Crooked Pint's FDD discloses a $20,000 initial franchise fee, a 4% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 6% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. 4% royalty + 0.5% local advertising + 1.5% advertising on GMOTG products. Training fees variable ($1,000-$750 per employee).
- What is the Crooked Pint franchise profit margin?
- Crooked Pint does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Sales data for 14 franchised restaurants (2022-2024). Average monthly sales $169,508 (2024). Food costs 32.81%, beverage 25.57%, labor 36.11%. Limited expense categories; excludes royalties, rent, debt service. Recurring fees alone take about 6% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Crooked Pint franchise failure rate?
- 1 ceased operations (2023); 1 termination (2023); declining sales trend 2022-2024
- How many Crooked Pint locations are there?
- Crooked Pint's FDD reports 14 total outlets, with 1 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 2 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Crooked Pint have complaints or lawsuits?
- Crooked Pint discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a Crooked Pint franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Crooked Pint scores C on disclosure honesty, carries about 6% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Crooked Pint to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 34757-202509-01 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Crooked Pint or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.